DeltaPlex Arena facts for kids
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| Full name | DeltaPlex Arena & Conference Center |
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| Former names | Grand Rapids Stadium Stadium Arena Turner Arena |
| Address | 2500 Turner Avenue |
| Location | Walker, Michigan |
| Coordinates | 43°0′31″N 85°40′54″W / 43.00861°N 85.68167°W |
| Owner | Joel Langlois |
| Capacity | Basketball: 5,000 Concerts: 7,000 |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1952 |
| Renovated | 1998 |
| Tenants | |
| Grand Rapids Rockets (IHL) (1952–1956) Grand Rapids Owls (IHL) (1977–1980) Grand Rapids Bearcats/Rockets (NAHL)(1998–2000) Grand Rapids Hoops (CBA) (2001–2003) Grand Rapids Flight (IBL) (2008) West Michigan ThunderHawks (IFL) (2010) Grand Rapids Drive (NBA G League) (2014–present) |
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DeltaPlex Arena & Conference Center (formerly Grand Rapids Stadium, Stadium Arena, and Turner Arena) is a 5,000-seat multipurpose arena in Walker, Michigan, United States. It is the home of the Grand Rapids Drive of the NBA G League. It was built in 1952 and since then the DeltaPlex sports, entertainment and convention complex has grown around the arena. The arena is a 23,000-square-foot (2,000 m2) space, which has a 52-foot (16 m) ceiling, seats up to 8,000 for concerts and has 1,088 loge seats. It has a 60-by-56-foot portable stage. DeltaPlex Arena is a venue usable for not only sports and concerts but also trade shows, conventions, concerts and special events.
History
The original building was constructed in 1952, and began life as the Stadium Arena. The building had an arched roof design with wooded arch supports instead of steel. The building housed many different tenants including two defunct IHL Hockey teams. The Grand Rapids Rockets in the 1950s (an NAHL team of the same name played in the building during the 1990s) and the Grand Rapids Owls in the late 1970s until 1980. During the 1960s and early 1970s it was home to Atlantic Mills Department Store. It was also home for a short time to a drive-in theater, known as the Stadium Drive-In Theater. For most of its life it was located at the corner of Turner Ave. and West River Drive. However, due to a reconstruction of West River Drive, the parking lot was enlarged and Turner Ave. ended at West River Drive.
It was the Grand Rapids area's main indoor entertainment facility until the opening of Van Andel Arena in 1996. In the mid-1990s the building was sold to the Langlois Family. After the purchase an extensive, ground-up restoration and remodeling regimen followed and the newly christened DeltaPlex was born.
The arena serves as the Grand Rapids chapter of Arena Racing. it also previously hosted the Grand Rapids Flight of the International Basketball League in 2008. In 2010, the DeltaPlex Arena was home to the West Michigan ThunderHawks of the Indoor Football League.
The DeltaPlex is currently home of the Detroit Pistons' NBA G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Drive.
